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Kilkenny Archaeological Project

The round tower at St. Canice’s cathedral looks over the city of Kilkenny and archaeological excavations underway at the fourteenth centurty artisan’s suburb at MacDonagh railway station (Photos: Luke Murphy and Kilkenny Archaeology).

Kilkenny is one of Ireland’s finest and best-preserved historic cities, with a tradition of archaeological research that stretches back to the seventeenth century. Like many other places in Ireland redevelopment of the historic core over the past twenty years has resulted in a massive increase in the amount of archaeological information about the city, its origins, development and society. Numerous excavations, architectural recording projects and geophysical surveys have resulted in Kilkenny having one of the richest and most important archaeological records for any Irish urban centre. Unfortunately however most of this material has never been published, despite its huge importance for understanding how the city developed and how everyday life was lived there over the course of the last millennium. To address this the Kilkenny Archaeological Project was set up in 2008 as a collaboration between Kilkenny Archaeology (archaeological consultants), NUI Maynooth (John Bradley) and Kilkenny Borough Council. The project forms part of the Heritage Council’sINSTARprogramme. This website provides up-to-date accounts of the project’s progress, as well as a major report on the city’s archaeology which can be downloaded here [26MB Pdf].